The Cape Town loadshedding schedule will follow the week’s trend on Friday, 14 July 2023, with Stage 4 loadshedding delayed until the evening.
Cape Town loadshedding schedule for Friday, 14 July 2023
On Thursday, 13 July 2023, Eskom revealed in a statement that due to a mixture of unplanned breakdowns at several power plants as well as increased demand due to inclement weather, Stage 6 loadshedding will remain in place for the entire weekend, from 05:00 on Friday, 14 July 2023.
The power utility admitted to miscalculating the week’s demand and, therefore, due to several reasons compounded by frosty conditions in South Africa, had depleted its energy reserves by Tuesday, 11 July 2023.
“Unfortunately, due to the failure of additional generation units since Sunday, the reserves have been depleted and can no longer buffer the lingering effects of the cold weather and make up for the lost generation capacity,” Eskom explained.
Therefore, Eskom clients will be placed on a permanent Stage 6 loadshedding schedule starting from 05:00 on Friday.
Barring no further updates from Megawatt Park, the City of Cape Town clients will be protected from Stage 6 loadshedding between 05:00 and 20:00.
“We are doing all we can to protect you where possible, but non-stop load-shedding at high stages impacts our ability to protect,” the City wrote.
Here’s a look at the Cape Town loadshedding schedule for Friday, 14 July 2023:
| Time | Cape Town | Eskom |
| 05:00 – 20:00 | Stage 4* | Stage 6* |
| 20:00 – 05:00 | Stage 6* | Stage 6* |
How to check your loadshedding schedule
In Cape Town, loadshedding is implemented rotationally in zones split between 23 areas.
Areas 1 – 16 follow the City of Cape Town’s loadshedding schedule, while Areas 17 – 23 adhere to Eskom’s national outage timetable.
To check the latest outage status, refer to the schedule for the loadshedding stage announced; dates indicated along the top (left to right), with the corresponding affected areas for that day and time slots (from top to bottom).
Here’s how City of Cape Town lowers loadshedding stages
The City of Cape Town has its Steenbras Pumped Storage Plant to thank for the delayed implementation of increased power cuts. The hydro-electric pumped power station is the first of its kind in Africa and in 2019, it was refurbished to provide auxiliary support when needed most.
Currently, the City of Cape Town is the only metro able to provide a semblance of relief to households impacted by loadshedding. Using the hydroelectric pumped power plant, residents connected to the City’s grid experience a lower stage of loadshedding, where possible.
Here’s how the Steenbras Pumped Storage plant works:
- Electricity generated during off-peak periods pumps water to an upper storage reservoir
- The down-flowing water is then used to power a generator
- Small hydro-generators like the one at Steenbras Dam mean that the City can sometimes avoid loadshedding or stay at a lower stage.